KissKus

Reflections

On this last day of the year I like to take a look back.
2007 has been a wonderful, beautiful and happy year and I feel so blessed to be able to say that.

The pregnancy, the new car, Michel's new job, all the things the children achieved, time spent with loved ones that live abroad. There were times that we seemed to be living from one highlight to another.

I'm most grateful for the small things, for moments that are considered to be "normal", but really are more special than anything else. Time spent as a family, seeing the children grow and develop. We're all healthy and we love each other... I'm so aware that that is what truly matters in my life.

I can hardly imagine that the next year will be as wonderful as the last, but I do hope so. We have something magical to look forward to: I can't wait to meet the littlest one of our family.

New year's resolutions... I do have a few. In the next three months I want to prepare the house for the new arrival. This means cleaning, sorting, throwing out, painting, sewing and also buying some new furniture. For the rest I resolve to take better care of myself, which means eating healthier and sleeping more.
As for my crafting I would like to make more clothes for the children and I want to continue selling my things. For the rest I just want to go on as I did this year.

I hope that you will all be able to spend New Year's Eve in good company tonight. And I'm wishing you a very happy, healthy and creative 2008!
I see you all on the other side!

A Christmas wonderland

The weather has been very obliging this year and has provided us with a beautiful winter wonderland. Just in time for Christmas. Everything looks gorgeous!

Today the four of us spent a lovely quiet day at home. Michel took the kids out for a refreshing walk, while I stayed at home sewing. I managed to sew up four Christmas presents and I'll be finishing three more tonight. I never thought I'd be able to achieve so much last minute... I suppose it's a handmade Christmas for me after all!

Tomorrow morning I have to go into work for a couple of hours and after that we'll start the Christmas festivities at my parents' house. I'm looking forward to it.

I hope you'll all be able to enjoy the next couple of days, wherever you are and whatever way you choose to celebrate. Happy Christmas!

LBD

Here are some photos of the dress I made for Amber. Her Little Black Dress for the holidays.

She picked out the fabric herself weeks ago and I was very pleased that she chose such a chique fabric, instead of the obligatory pink.

This was the pattern, which turned out to be a little weird. There was no opening, no zipper or anything, which made it impossible to put on (the fabric doesn't stretch). I used my creativity and put two little buttons on the shoulder, so that now it is possible to get it over her head.

Amber loved how the dress turned out and was very proud to wear it. She told me:"Mama, I think everybody will be looking at me, because no-one else has a dress like mine!" Bless her little heart... she really appreciates the uniqueness of something handmade :)

The irony is that I myself have not seen her wear it yet at all. Unfortunately I couldn't attend her performance in church, because I had to work. However, it's already packed to come with us for our sleep-over at my parents' house, so tomorrow I'll finally be able to see how it looks on her.

I'll leave with one last photo of Simon... apparently he also enjoyed himself in church!

Ready or not, here it comes

Well, the helicopter has landed and the car is parked... what more could you wish for in a Christmas stable?

I still have a to do-list as long as my arm, but I'm so relieved to have finished my main project: a dress for Amber. Tomorrow she is going to sing Christmas carols in church with her school and I had promised to make her a new dress. It is finished! In time! It was a bit of a bumpy road though... as soon as I'm able to take some photos I'll post them.

It's been absolutely freezing here these past days. Michel and I tried to capture the magic of ice-forming, but unfortunately our camera wasn't really up for it. All those ice-y little "roots" are truly stunning though!

My sister will be arriving from England tomorrow. I'm looking forward to spending Christmas with my family. We'll be hopping around the country visiting everyone.
Hopefully, I'll be able to tick off a few more projects of my to do-list before then!

Gezellig!

It is often said that there is no real translation for the Dutch word gezellig.
Gezellig means homy, comfy, cosy, intimate.
It may refer to activities, situations or people.

It means lighting the candles at night

It means playing with your best friend

It means peeling the Brussels sprouts together

It means decorating the Christmas tree

It means feeling lots of tiny toes and fingers wriggling around, but no photo can be taken of that!

Things have been very gezellig around here lately!

Pyramid bags

Something new has been born out of my oilcloth stash... pyramid bags!

As much as I would like to say that I thought these up all by myself, I have to admit that I saw them in a stall at the Christmas market in Germany. Although they looked different and weren't made of oilcloth there, I did steal shamelessly steal the design (and my mother-in-law was my partner in crime!).
So thank you anonymous German lady for providing me with this idea!

These are fun to make too! Not nearly as hard as it might initially look like. I did notice that some fabrics are better suited for this than others. The best ones for this are those with the black or purple design. The good thing is that these bags can be folded as well without leaving ugly creases, which means they can be put in an envelope.

I made a whole bunch at once along with matching tissueholders. My sister-in-law wanted to take some back to Australia with her to hand out as Christmas gifts. Yay, my things will be used in Australia!

I will be making more. I want to try and make them with a folded opening instead of a zipper, so you can use them in the bathroom for cotton wool and stuff.

By the way, I bought a new supply of oilcloth this weekend... yummy, yummy!!

Sigh...

Amber and Simon decided to get crafty with play dough today.
The stuff was everywhere! Mainly on the floor and on their socks (threw them away).
I must say though, that after some (loud voiced-) encouraging Amber cleaned it all up... she even did the vacuuming! Simon looked at it all with interest.

While I was peeling the potatoes I discovered two heart-shaped ones. What do you think that means? Unlucky in cooking but lucky in love?!

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Bookmarks

I took some felt and floss to Germany just in case I'd be suffering from craft withdrawal symptoms.
And while everyone was playing poker (I had played my first game that afternoon and won!) I played with my felt. Nothing shocking came from it, just some simple felt applications.

Today while I was sitting at the sewing machine working on something else (more on that soon) I suddenly thought I'd make some bookmarks. Such an easy project that I'd been wanting to do for ages.

So this is the result:

Excuse the very crappy photos, but I don't think it really got light outside today and I won't let my blogging be dictated by the weather... no way!

Of course I used oilcloth again... I just can't keep away from it. I like how they've turned out... they're cheerful and made to last.

I put these in my shop, but I can see myself making another bunch to hand out as Christmas presents. Too bad we don't celebrate Christmas with stockings here in Holland, because wouldn't these be the perfect stocking fillers?!

Home again

We're back from a wonderful three day break.
We're all relaxed, but definitely not rested... there wasn't a lot of time to sleep in between all the fun we had!
To prepare myself for "normal" life again I think I'm going to have a nice cup of tea and an early night!